Events
- 1994 - Nintendo calls this year "1994: The Year of the Cartridge".
- April - Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA) founded (name changed to the Entertainment Software Association in 2003); IDSA founds Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB)
- June 24 - The Computer Game Developers Association is formed by Ernest W. Adams.
- November - Game Zero magazine drops their print format and becomes the first video game news magazine on the web.
- November 10 - William Higinbotham, creator of Tennis for Two (1958), dies at 84.
Notable releases
- February 2 - Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (Sega, Genesis), introduced Knuckles the Echidna. Sonic & Knuckles was released in the autumn of 1994. Sonic & Knuckles introduced "lock-on" gaming, allowing a player to connect Sonic 2 or 3 to the cartridge, which allowed the player to play these games as Knuckles.
- March 19 - Super Metroid (SNES), distributed on a 24-megabit cartridge (the largest of its time), called the "best game of all time" by Electronic Gaming Monthly in 2002.
- Nintendo releases Rare's Donkey Kong Country (SNES), featuring distinctive 3D pre-rendered graphics. It was followed by several sequels.
- Blizzard releases the real-time strategy game Warcraft, which spawns a franchise and influences many later games.
- Looking Glass Studios releases System Shock.
- Bungie releases Marathon, one of the earliest original (non-ported) first-person shooters for the Macintosh.
- Squaresoft releases Final Fantasy VI (known as Final Fantasy III in North America) for the SNES, which many still consider to be the best game in the series yet.
- Daytona USA (Sega, arcade game), a highly successful racing game noted for its advanced 3D graphics that included texture mapping
- Wario's Woods, the last game released for the NES in North America
- Killer Instinct (Rare, arcade), the first arcade game with an internal hard disk, made extensive use of pre-rendered graphics
- Rise of the Triad is released. The multiplayer mode included possibly the first ever Capture the flag mode in a PC game.
Hardware
- Aiwa releases the CSD-GLM Mega Drive multimedia home console in Japan only
- Bandai releases the Playdia multimedia home console
- NEC releases the PC-FX multimedia home console
- Sega:
- * introduces the cable TV Sega Channel in cooperation with Time Warner (AOL Time Warner); the subscription service provides Sega Genesis games via cable box to customers
- * releases the 32X add-on for the Sega Genesis in North America and the Sega Megadrive in Europe and Japan
- * releases the Sega Nomad handheld console in North America, a portable Sega Genesis.
- * releases the Sega Saturn home console in Japan
- SNK releases the Neo Geo CD home console
- December 3 - Sony releases the PlayStation console in Japan
- Nintendo releases the Super Game Boy adapter for the SNES home console
Business
- Apogee establishes the 3D Realms Entertainment division
- Blizzard Entertainment is renamed from Silicon & Synapse
- Commodore goes out of business
- SSI sold to Mindscape
- Alpex Computer Corp. v. Nintendo lawsuit: Alpex sues Nintendo over patent infringements. Nintendo loses the case.
- * Nintendo of America, Inc. v. Dragon Pacific Intern
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